1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coupling element for the electromagnetic coupling of at least two conductors of a transmission line, wherein the coupling element is arranged between a first conductor and a second conductor of the transmission line and has at least one discrete component.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventional coupling elements of this type are equipped with a varactor diode, for example, which connects different conductors of the transmission line to one another and thus implements a controllable capacitive coupling of the two conductors. In this arrangement, the degree of coupling of this capacitive coupling can be set by means of a control signal provided to the varactor diode.
The disadvantage of these conventional coupling elements is the relatively small tuning range that results from the coupling of the conductors of the transmission line to the varactor diode. Furthermore, in such devices it is always only possible to simultaneously change the impedance and the propagation constant of the transmission line.